UK Debt Collection Co. Improperly Took Funds From Credit Card

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fattycrowe

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Hi Folks! This is the lowdown:

Credit Card is a Visa card through Halifax.

This evening was checking my credit card account online and discovered that €1,572.69 extra was taken out of my account without my authorization or knowledge.

I contacted Halifax and was informed that the amount was taken through 3 separate payments on the 27th - 28th August. The payments went to a website www.bristowsutor.co.uk This is a website for a UK based company that specializes in enforcement and recovery of debts. The website contains a Barclaycard Merchant Service for the payment of debts.

Bristow & Sutor
Bartleet Road
Washford
Redditch
Worcestershire
B98 0FL

Now I must state that I do not have any outstanding past debts or have been contacted by debt collectors or sheriffs. The only debt that I have is real credit card balance (€382) and a car loan (€10,200) which I recently took out. I am servicing this through monthly payments.

Halifax informed me that I should contact the company directly but when I rang the company it was outside of office hours Monday to Friday. I will ring them Monday. Halifax said that if I do not get any satisfaction from this company that they will immediately initiate an investigation.

I need advice on following:

1.Has anybody heard of this happening before.
2.Would this be similar to a mis-payment or a fraudulent payment?
3.Info in dealing with a Debt collection Agency with a similar scenario or any scenario?How should I approach the phone call on Monday?
4.If Halifax initiate this investigation, how long will it take?How much red tape?
5.Am I liable to for this extra payment?
6.If I don't pay this amount on my credit card , will this effect my Credit Rating?
7.Should I contact my solicitor immediately Monday morning?

Thanks!
 
I think you tell Halifax that this is an unauthorised transaction.

Halifax will have to show you how you authorised it.

You don't need to chase after the company who initiated it.

Brendan
 
Thanks for the reply Brendan -

I was talking to two different Halifax customer service people and I stated both times that I didn't authorize the payments but they insisted that I contact the company first. If satisfaction isn't forthcoming I will have to get back to Halifax and then they will initiate the investigation. Bizarre that the burden of proof is with me!

I'm just worried that this could drag on for months !
 
Tell Halifax that you did not authorise the transactions and want them to initiate a chargeback which will prove this. You should not have to deal with the third party here as Brendan has said. If necessary put these instructions in writing to Halifax. If you have problems make a complaint. If necessary take it to the Financial Services Ombudsman.
 
If you have a dispute with a company with whom you did business, it's reasonable for you to try to sort this out with them first.

In this case, you have absolutely no involvement with this company. So you should not have to pursue it. Halifax should just charge it back to them. It could also be fraudulent, so Halifax should be on to it a lot quicker.

Ring again and ask for a manager. If you don't get put through to a manager, then you should ask for the name of the person who is the Financial Services Ombudsman nominee in the company. It might be on their website. Specify your complaint in writing and if you don't get a response, go to the Ombudsman.

From a practical point of view, you should probably make one call during business hours to Bristow and Sutor and seek to kill off the matter there. If it's a genuine clerical error, they might be able to fix it immediately, or possibly tell you about something which you forgot you bought? (This has happened me a few times)

Your case with the Halifax and the Ombudsman will be stronger if you were even more reasonable than you needed to be.

Brendan
 
I agree with Brendan - make one daytime call to the UK company and ask for an explanation for the transactions. It is possible they made an error and will charge it back when they find this out or alternatively that you (or someone in your family perhaps) purchased something and inadvertently forgot to pay it off. If they can't come up with a valid and crystal clear justification for the charges then you should make it absolutely clear and in writing to Halifax that this is (in your view) a fraudulent transaction and they need to investigate it.

I have found transactions on my card a few times which set off the alarms because the name and amount meant nothing to me, but each time it turned out to be something I bought on the web from one company being charged up by another. I'm not saying this is the case for you, but you should at least give them a chance to explain.

You have done the correct thing by flagging it up to Halifax as soon as you discovered, but you shouldn't have to do more than verify that the transactions were not initiated by you in order for them to query it themselves.

z
 
The problem seems to be that the banks want you to do their dirty work. You want to cancel a DD they tell you to contact the originator. You dispute a DD again contact the originator. The same in the OPs situation. It is amazing that the banks won't even follow IPSO rules.
 
There is another problem here. The debt collectors will almost certainly ask you for the Visa card number to check their accounts. If they don't already have this number, would you really want to give it to them.
 
Complainer said:
There is another problem here. The debt collectors will almost certainly ask you for the Visa card number to check their accounts. If they don't already have this number, would you really want to give it to them.
Click to expand...
A very good point.

The OP should press the matter with the card issuer. The onus is on them to show that the OP authorised payment.
 
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